chpettit19

I'd be surprised to see Rocco fired this early in the season, but I don't think a list of candidates for replacement is necessary to come up with because they wouldn't hire an outside person to replace him. It'd be an internal promotion and there wouldn't be any added staff. With that being said, it'd be an interesting (to me, at least) thought exercise on how much credit you'd give to Tingler or whoever replaced him internally if they fired Rocco. If the Twins ended up winning 90 games, 80 games, 70 games, whatever the total ended up being at the end of the year what amount of credit do you give to a guy who was already part of the original staff? Would likely depend on how noticeable of a shift there is in on field strategies. But I don't see them firing Rocco this early, and really don't see them bringing in someone from the outside. As someone who believes talent wins and managers have a pretty minor impact on team win-loss records I'm not surprised that there aren't a lot of examples of teams that fired their managers early and saw drastic turn arounds.

They said on the broadcast yesterday that the plan is that the playing time handcuffs are coming off this week. And the Julien/Buxton comps are pretty over the top. He had Tommy John. Buxton's durability? Really? Come on. And he's a much better defender than Julien. It takes 1 game of watching him in the field to see that. You don't have to be a professional scout to watch the 2 of them field and see that they're very different defenders.

His swing looks better as he's flattened his VBA so he has a fighting chance against non-fastballs. And we're seeing that in his contact quality against breaking stuff. Now he needs to get back to being patient. I don't expect him to OPS .840 again, but I don't think .775-.800 is an outrageous expectation for him. He's working on adjustments. If it takes him an offseason to make them every time he's doomed, but he failed significantly for the first time in his life last year. He got his offseason reset and now he's working on combining everything. From there it's about making little adjustments over and over for the rest of his career. Eddie is a talented guy. He needed to revamp his swing, and he did. Now he needs to find the balance in his approach. He's gotten too aggressive. They don't want to take away his incredible eye, they want to dial it in. Attack pitches over the heart of the plate early, but not every strike is worth swinging at. I've had my doubts about Eddie since 2023 and advocated for him to be traded after that season because of his swing (and defense). Overhauling a swing is hard. But he's adjusted it. His approach was never his major problem, his swing was. He's given himself a chance now with his swing changes. Now we see if he can dial it all in. Going to take way more than 30 trips to the plate to figure that out. Things look pretty promising so far, though.

Kyle Teel for Walker Jenkins?! Come on now. This wasn't a 17 vs 25 situation in the draft and they aren't "virtually identically rated" now. Teel went 14th in the draft but the Twins should've taken him 5th over one of the 5 consensus elite prospects just because he was a catcher? That's an awful draft strategy. Fangraphs is the lowest (to my knowledge) on Jenkins. They have him at 16th. They have Teel at 50. Their FV on Jenkins is 55. Teel is 50. Teel is the 9th highest rated catcher on their board. They have 15 catchers in their top 100. Jenkins is #3 on MLB's list. Teel is 30. Overall grades of 60 and 55. Teel is their 3rd catcher, but they have 14 catchers in their top 100. Keith Law has Jenkins 4th, Teel 37. He has 15 catchers in his top 100. Teel is 6th on his catcher list. Baseball America has Jenkins 5, Teel 52. Baseball Prospectus has Jenkins 5 and Teel 45. These guys are not the same and catchers are not that scarce. Jenkins was an elite draft prospect and is a top 5 global prospect on every list but 1. Teel is a good prospect. They are not the same and drafting Teel over Jenkins or trading Jenkins for Teel would be an absolutely mind-boggling move.

Fair enough. But I don't think he's a bad fielder. Not a gold glover, but he's an upgrade over Julien and Gasper, in my opinion. He's about average from what I've seen of him. Nothing special, but certainly not embarrassing.

FYI, Keaschall has been playing 2B every other game to start the season for the Saints. He's playing the field.

Making the swing adjustments was the biggest hurdle. He's giving himself a much better chance at success with that swing than his old one. I don't think he was ever going to repeat the success he had in 2023, but he looks much better than last year already. I don't think a trip to AAA is the end of the world, but not sure it's really needed, either. I don't know what Eddie is going to end up being, but I'm far more encouraged by the new swing than I was by his old one.

It is data. It happens so frequently by so many teams that they had to make rules for it. Describing Dobnak as simply "a relief pitcher on the bubble" is missing a lot of the context of the role Randy was in. Almost all of the context, actually. He wasn't going to throw a pitch in any situation other than a starting pitcher blowing up and having an awful game (the situation that ended up happening) or a starting pitcher getting hurt and the Twins needing multiple innings out of an individual pitcher. Randy would then be on the hook for pitching multiple innings. If it was for a "blow up" start it wouldn't matter how well he pitched. Whether he gave up 0 runs or 20 runs, it wouldn't matter. His 1 and only job on this team was to eat innings and save the bullpen in an emergency and then go be a St Paul Saint afterwards. That was then the only role Darren McCaughan had. And it'll be the only role for whoever replaces Darren (although, I suppose they do have an off-day Friday so maybe they roll the dice that they don't need a long man today or tomorrow?). Pinch hitting in the middle innings and sitting guys after getting game winning hits are completely and totally different things that have nothing to do with how teams cycle through relief pitchers. I'm not sure why you even bring those things up. I'm not going to go through the entire transaction logs of the Dodgers and Guardians, but a quick glance at just the end of the year for the Dodgers last year shows Ben Casparius having his contract selected on 8/18. Being optioned again on 8/21 (without even pitching). Being recalled on 8/31 and pitching 1 inning that day (0 runs allowed) and being optioned right back to the minors. He was then recalled on 9/20, threw 3 innings of 1 run ball on 9/22, was optioned on 9/24, recalled on 9/26, threw 4.1 innings of 1 earned run (2 total runs) ball on 9/27, and optioned again on 9/28. 3 regular season appearances to go with being optioned 4 times. This is what teams do. It's why the league made rules for it.

Pitchers have to remain in the minors for 15 days after being demoted. Players can only be optioned 5 times in a season before having to be placed on waivers. These rules weren't put in place because of how the Twins treat their players. They were put in place (in 2022) because of how "the other 29 teams decide on non-injury bullpen demotions to the minors." This isn't the Twins being jerks and doing something outside the norm. This is how nearly everyone does things.

MLB does have rules for this stuff. If Randy is good enough he'll get claimed. If not, he'll still get paid $3M to play baseball this year. MLB has rules against how many times a guy can be demoted in a season and how long a guy has to spend in the minors after he was demoted and the DFA rules themselves allow other teams to "steal" players for "nothing" to reduce the amount of cycling through of arms teams do between AAA and the majors. What rule are they supposed to put in place? "We know what you're really doing so we're going to stop you from making roster moves when we decide you're taking advantage of the rules in place?" As for "the Twins need a plan" talk. The Twins had a plan. This was the plan. If you didn't know this was the plan for Dobnak you haven't been paying attention to Major League Baseball for the last decade. It's the reason they've put rules in place about how often you can demote a guy and how long he has to stay there. New flash: Darren McCaughan isn't going to be on tomorrow's 26-man roster. This is the plan for just about every team in baseball. It's not the Twins lacking a plan. It's the Twins executing a plan. And the fact that MLB does have rules for this stuff shows you that it's a pretty common plan because it happens so often with so many teams the league felt they needed to put rules in place for it. The DFA rules are in place to help players, not teams. If a player is good enough they get claimed and get a shot to stay on a major league roster. The 40-man roster rules are in place to stop teams from hoarding players in the minors and force them to make decisions on guys and give other teams a chance to "steal" them and give them a shot at the majors for just the cost of their contract. Randy's problem is nobody thinks he's worth his contract. MLB can't make a rule for that. But they have rules for the rest of this stuff. It's not their fault teams think he's overcompensated. If he cares more about being in the majors he has the ability to choose free agency and give up his $3 million (plus $1 million buyout next year). Because MLB has numerous rules to give players chances to get to different teams to get shots at the majors. I have a feeling Randy won't be choosing free agency, though. The rules aren't holding him back.

There's a difference between being "the best prospect in baseball" and comping him to a kid who was a complete bust from the jump. Cavaco never had a chance. He was lucky to make it out of rookie ball. He's never put up a .700 OPS in any meaningful time at any level while never making it past A+ ball. If you wanted to make that comp after the draft that's one thing, but we've seen him play. That's a ridiculous comp at this point. He's already surpassed anything Cavaco has ever done. Winokur: a19 wRC+ 116, K% 28.0 James Wood: a19 wRC+ 129, K% 28.0 Oneil Cruz: a18 wRC+ 79, K% 29.3 Elly De La Cruz: a19 wRC+ 106, K% 31.0 There's some other super athletic 6'5" to 6'7" guys and what they did in their first full season in A ball. Keoni Cavaco: a20 wRC+ 68, K% 34.2 The other 3 were all top 100 global prospects shortly after, or immediately after, those A ball seasons. Cavaco is a pretty wild comp.

I didn't question the WHY at all, I questioned the IF. The WHY is always clear. Human greed. The IF is always the only question. It's always a question of IF they will invest, not WHY they didn't if they choose not to.

There are 6 catchers in baseball that make 10 million or more, and Vazquez is going to come off the list after this year. Potentially Sal Perez as well, but the Royals may pick up that option. Rutschman and the younger Contreras will eventually be added to the list, and Kirk's salary jumps next year with his new extension. But Realmuto will be coming back down to earth some on his next deal and so will Perez. Do we really think Ryan Jeffers is worth not just top 10 catcher money, but top 5 catcher money? Ryan Jeffers is an $8 million catcher. He's Danny Jansen, not Cal Raleigh. The Twins have no business extending Ryan Jeffers for $14 million per year. And the shape of the system has nothing to do with it. The system having very limited options doesn't mean you overpay Jeffers by 6 million. He's not the only option. The rest of the free agent market will still be there. You can sign 2 catchers for that 6 million overpay.

It was all of MLB.tv, if that makes you feel better.

Ask and you shall receive!

I don't know the differences between DirectTV Stream and just streaming through your DirectTV account, but the 668-3 channel on the DirectTV guide for streaming a regular DirectTV account is showing and has the pregame and game scheduled as they should be.

Don't be ridiculous. Simple platooning is played out. Rocco has moved on to 3 men for 1 spot. It's Vazquez hitting for Wallner and Keirsey fielding for Vazquez. If he's feeling real energized by opening day we may then see him go to Gasper hitting for Keirsey and moving Castro to RF to get 4 guys in at 1 position and move a starting position player to another spot.

Don't you even put that out into the universe!

It's also the lineup they've used the last 2 weeks of spring. Rocco just preparing them for this one? Obviously everything can change, and Rocco never sticks with a single lineup. But go listen to Bader interviews after signing. Listen to Rocco interviews early in spring. Look at the lineups from spring. To this point, there's far more evidence that this is, and has been, the plan.

Over how long of a period of time? Rocco and the current regime isn't exactly known for quick hooks on veteran bats.

"Everyday player" is a relative term, I guess. The Twins had 8 players get to 350 PAs last year. Bader getting there would make him an "everyday player" in Twins terms. And I'd bet on him being over 400 (or on pace for before injury) this year which would've put him in the top 5 for the Twins last year. And the year before. Top 9 in 2022. Top 7 2021. If Miranda wasn't hitting 8th I'd be more likely to believe he wouldn't be playing if Lewis or Lee were healthy, but Miranda looks like the guy who barely made the lineup to me. I'd bet Miranda would be on the bench with Lewis or Lee at 3B and the rest of the guys in the same positions (lineup being shifted some, though). That's how Rocco has been running the lineup most of the spring. With Bader with this lineup and Miranda on the outside. And in the interviews Bader gave after he signed he spoke about the opportunity to play being a big part of signing here. He came here because he could play a lot. I'd be he's top 5 in PAs by the end of the year. Far more than his talent level says he should be. And that's been the plan from the beginning, not some injury forced outcome.

Just like I feared and people told me I was crazy for suggesting...Harrison Bader is not here to be a 4th OF, short side platoon, Buxton insurance policy player. Harrison Bader is an everyday player for your 2025 Minnesota Twins. Ok, I got my rant out of the way and will now enjoy the rest of my opening day! I hope everyone has a wonderful day and the Twins win!

I think this is well said, and where I'm at as well. I think there's a chance things come together and they can get up towards that 88-90 win mark, and that's a good team. I wouldn't bet on it, but there's a chance. I think they're in the same 84-87 win range I thought they were in going into last year. Which, I agree, is more of a "pretty good" range. But it's opening day and surprises happen every year. Maybe we'll all be surprised and somebody in the central actually will be great. And maybe it'll be our favorite team.

Randy Dobnak in the opening day pen would beg to differ there. I don't believe they have any plans to ever use Dobnak, but arguing they don't have a need for someone in the pen rings untrue to me. Stewart is less likely than Paddack to make it through the year, and he's already hurt. Dobnak in the pen and Paddack in the rotation or Paddack in the pen and Zebby or Festa in the rotation? Which would you choose? I'll take Zebby in the rotation after the spring he just had and Paddack in the pen.

I don't think the Twins have any plans to have Randy Dobnak throw a single pitch for them. Obviously they are fully prepared for it to happen, but we've seen Sands and others sit in the pen for weeks on end while never throwing a pitch. That's what I think they have Randy scheduled for. They prefer to give Adams and any other youngster regular scheduled work in AAA to start the year than to have them sitting around twiddling their thumbs in the pen. I think their hope is he gets some time with the boys on the big club for a couple weeks until Stewart or Tonkin comes back and then he gets shipped back to AAA. Or preferably claimed off waivers and somebody else pays him 3 mil this year. I don't love the move, but I don't think it's outrageous or worth getting too up in arms over, either.